Etymograph

English

hear

Hear comes from Old English hēran ‘to hear’, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ḱh₂owsyéti ‘to be sharp-eared’, and ultimately from *h₂eḱ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eḱ-1‘sharp’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ḱh₂owsyéti1‘to be sharp-eared’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hauzijaną1‘to hear’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hauʀijan1‘to hear’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150hēran1‘to hear’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500har1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1526hear1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English hear
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “Agayne there was dissencion amonge the iewes for these…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eḱ-Wiktionary, English hear‘sharp’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ḱh₂owsyétiWiktionary, English hear‘to be sharp-eared’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hauzijanąWiktionary, English hear‘to hear’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hauʀijanWiktionary, English hear‘to hear’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150hēranWiktionary, English hear‘to hear’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500harWiktionary, English hear
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1526hearWiktionary, English hear. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “Agayne there was dissencion amonge the iewes for these…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with hear, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- ‘sharp’

  • edge ← egge ← eċġ ← *aggju ← *agjō
  • egg ← eggen ← eggian ← eggja ← *agjō
  • acid ← acide ← acidus ← aceō ← *akēō
  • hammer ← hamer ← hamor ← *hamar ← *hamaraz
  • acute ← acūta ← acūtus ← acuō ← acus
  • axe ← ax ← æx ← *akusi ← *akwisī
  • eager ← egre ← aigre ← ācrus ← ācer
  • acne ← ἀκμή ← *akmā́
  • oxide ← oxyde
  • mediocre ← medioker ← mediocris ← ocris ← *okris
  • ear ← er ← *ahaʀ ← *ahaz ← *h₂éḱos
  • vinegar ← vynegre ← vinaigre ← aigre ← ācrus

126 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

verb To perceive sounds through the ear.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “hear”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- / hear